Dismissed head of Romanian Police: "Everything I did was legal"

The former head of the Romanian Police, Gheorghe Popa, dismissed after the Police cars procurement scandal, declared on Friday that all his actions and decisions were legal. According to his statements, he was forced to sign the procurement contracts for the cars that caused the scandal (11,000 euros per car, with 45,000 euros optional features), because the Police would otherwise risk sanctions over one billion Romanian lei. Prime Minister Calin Popescu Tariceanu dismissed Popa on Thursday evening, agreeing with a suggestion made by the Interior Minister, Cristian David.

The reason for the dismissal was the controversial contract with Ager Leasing.

Popa explained that that there were no suspicions regarding the price to be paid: „I discussed this matter with the commission and there were no suspicions about the contract, nor about the price. The motivation they exposed was fair”.

President Traian Basescu suspended the session of the Supreme Defense Council on Tuesday because the Interior Ministry and the Defense Ministry did not send in advance the documents that should have been approved in the session.